Kilchoman 18 yo & STR/New Oak Single Casks for The International Whisky Festival Den Haag
From 14 to 16 November, The Hague once again hosted the International Whisky Festival. To mark the occasion, two truly exceptional Kilchoman single cask bottlings were released: one of the still very rare 18-year-old Kilchoman releases and, somewhat surprisingly for insiders, another STR Cask Matured / New Oak Finish bottling.
After the first 18-year-old Kilchoman was released in Japan at the end of last year, the anniversary year 2025 brought us a handful of additional 18-year-old bottlings (including some private casks), all fully matured in ex-bourbon barrels, which met with great interest among whisky fans.
The 18-year-old whisky for the Whisky Festival, on the other hand, was first matured for almost 17 years in a bourbon barrel and then finished for a year in an Oloroso sherry hogshead. I must admit that I initially frowned when I read this. In my opinion, a Kilchoman whisky that has been matured in a bourbon cask for so long does not need any further sherry finishing, unless the cask was not that great. But I was proven wrong: of the dozen or so 18 to almost 20-year-old Kilchomans from 2005 and 2006 that I tasted this year (in addition to the five bottlings, numerous cask samples at Fèis Ìle, the 20th Anniversary Party and my 60th birthday celebration on Islay), this whisky is clearly the most delicious. Based on the style, I could imagine an 18-year-old Kilchoman Original bottling in a few years, if Kilchoman’s cask stocks allow it!
However, one negative point should not be overlooked: the exorbitant price of €395! Yes, the bottling is rare and very tasty, but this price is extortionate! So it’s no wonder that the bottles are still available to buy online…
The second Kilchoman Festival bottling was another Kilchoman New Oak Finish Single Cask. This came as something of a surprise because, as readers of our site will know, Kilchoman had re-racked the un-bottled casks from Anthony Wills’ first New Oak Finish experiment, which began in 2023, in the summer of 2025, as the oak character was threatening to become too overpowering. However, cask no. 235/2018 was obviously not as active, so it did not need to be re-racked. The whisky remained in the new Carpathian oak cask for over 29 months, by far the longest finishing period of any Kilchoman New Oak release, but as indicated above, the bottling is one of the more restrained in terms of flavour and is still very drinkable.
The bottling costs €95, which, unlike the 18-year-old release, is a very fair price.
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Here are the details of the two bottlings:
18 yo Single Cask for The Intern. Whisky Festival [Den Haag 2025]
Cask No.: 129/2007
Cask type: 1st Fill Ex-Bourbon Barrel, Oloroso Hogshead Finish
Date Filled: 6.6.2007
Date Bottled: 15.6.2025
Age: 18 yo
Finishing Period: 1 year
Strength: 53,6 % abv
Level of phenols in malted barley: 50 ppm
Number of bottles: 215
Bottle volume: 0,7 l
Bottle Code: 129/2007 15/06/25
Barcode: 5 060210 708719
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7 yo STR & New Oak Single Cask for The Int. Whisky Festival [Den Haag 2025]
Cask No.: 235/2018
Cask type: 1st Fill STR Cask, New Oak Cask Finish
Date Filled: 27.3.2018
Date Bottled: 8.9.2025
Age: 7 yo
Finishing Period: 29 months
Strength: 55,8 % abv
Level of phenols in malted barley: 50 ppm
Number of bottles: 281
Bottle volume: 0,7 l
Bottle Code: SC 08/09/25 18/235
Barcode: 5 060210 709051
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